Ethnography is one of the most discussed research methods in the social sciences. This outstanding collection brings together some landmark contributions by key figures such as Geertz, Denzin, Whyte, Emerson and Atkinson and Delamont, and a wide variety of issues in the field. It provides a complete guide to the methods, significance and contribution of ethnography and will be an invaluable resource for scholars and students.

Volume 1: The Nature of Ethnography

This volume explores the roots of ethnography in Anthropology and Sociology. Contributions include: G W Stocking on the fieldwork tradition in British anthropology from Tyler to Malinowski; Edmund Leach on the roots and future of tribal ethnography; Boas on methods of ethnology; E E Evans Pritchard on the practice of fieldwork; Wax on Malinowski; James Urry on the contribution of field methods in anthropology; Lofland on the Chicago Legacy; Jennifer Platt on participant observation in sociology; W F Whyte on the application of participant observation; J M Champoulie on Everett Hughes's approach to fieldwork; Sara Delamont and Paul Atkinson on educational ethnography; S Porter on critical realist ethnography; Clifford Geertz on the native's point of view; R L Gold on the ethnographic method in sociology; K Narayan on `native' anthropology and Jack Katz on ethnography's warrants.

Volume 2: Ethnographic Fieldwork Practice

This volume explores the application and uses of ethnography. The material is organized into sections on the nature of ethnographic practice, access and entry, sampling, fieldwork roles, fieldwork relationships, informants, fieldnotes, interviewing and leaving the field.

Included here are contributions from J M Heslin on studying deviance; R M Emerson on the craft of fieldwork; H F Wolcott on methods of ethnography; D Serber on ethnography and bureaucracy; Richard Giulianotti on the use of ethnographic research methods in researching football hooliganism; M Q Patton and M R Luborsky and R L Rubinstein on sampling in qualitative research; R L Gold on sociological roles in field observation; D A Snow, R D Benford and I L Anderson on fieldwork roles and informational yield; S M Miller on the participant observer; R B Everhart on long term fieldwork in schools; J Dubisch on sex and the female anthropologist; J Cassell on the relationship between the observer and observed; W Shaffir on doing ethnography; J Van Maanen on the informant's game; M Shokied on anthropologists and their informants; R Sanjek on vocabularies of fieldnotes; N Rapport on writing fieldnotes; J E Jackson on fieldnotes and liminality; J R Spradley on the ethnographic interview; C L Biggs on the role of the interview in fieldwork; D Snow on the disengagement process and C Gallmeier on leaving, revisiting and staying in touch.

Volume 3: Issues in Ethnography

This volume is devoted to research and theory issues in the field. The material is divided into sections on gender, feminist ethnography, validation questions, relating ethnography to quantitative research; team ethnography; documents; the visual image; ethical issues; replication and re-study.

The contributions include: L Nader on emotions in fieldwork; C Warren and P Rasmussen on sex and gender in fieldwork research; N McKeganey and M Bloor on male gender and fieldwork relations; J Stacey on the possibility of feminist ethnography; B Skeggs on situating feminist ethnography; M LeCompte and J Goetz on problems of reliability and validity; R Emerson and M Pollner on quality criteria in qualitative interpretive research; W F Whyte on research methods for the study of conflict and co-operation; D Miller et al on the combination of quantitative and qualitative research in a study of shopping, place and identity; R C Rist on team ethnography; L Belgrave and K Smith on negotiated validity in collaborative ethnography; P Lemonnier on material culture and ethnography; P Atkinson and A Coffey on analyzing documentary data; D Harper on the visual ethnographic narrative; P Loizos on video, film and photographs in research documents; D M Fetterman on ethnographic educational evaluation; A M Johannsen on applied ethnography and postmodernist ethnography; J Cassell on ethical principles in fieldwork; G Fine on moral dilemmas in field research; A Hunter on the Gold Coast and Slum revisited; K G Heider on disagreements among ethnographers; and A Bryman on the Mead/Freeman controversy.

Contributions include: M Clarke on survival in the field; I Karp and M B Kendall on reflexivity in fieldwork; L Ellingson on empathy, identification and reflexivity in fieldwork; D M Hayano on auto-ethnography; C Ellis on auto-ethnographic stories; J D Brewer on the ethnographic critique of ethnography; J Ennew on facts in fieldwork; E R Bruner on ethnography as narrative; A Johnson and O R Johnson on the measurement potential of ethnography fieldnotes; D L Altheide on ethnographic content analysis; R M Lee and N G Fielding on users' experience of qualitative data analysis software; J Katz on the social system of analytic fieldwork; K Charmaz on using grounded theory; R M Emerson et al on processing fieldnotes; P Atkinson on reading writing and rhetoric in ethnography; M S Mauthner et al on archiving and revisiting qualitative data; C Geertz on anthropology and the science of writing; S Tyler on post-modern ethnography; M Hammersley on the rhetorical turn in ethnography; N Denzin on the facts of fictions in qualitative inquiry; F and I Ingersoll on oral history and grounded theory and M Punch on limitations and liabilities in fieldwork.

This is an unparalleled resource for researchers and students interested in ethnography. Nothing compares with it in terms of ambition or content. It is the distillation of the key achievements and issues in the ethnographic tradition.

VOLUME ONE: THE NATURE OF ETHNOGRAPHY

A Bryman

Introduction

A Review of Ethnography

PART ONE: ANTHROPOLOGICAL BEGINNINGS

G W Stocking

The Ethnographer's Magic

Fieldwork in British Anthropology from Tylor to Malinowski

E R Leach

Tribal Ethnography

Past, Present and Future

F Boas

The Methods of Ethnology

E E Evans-Pritchard

Some Reminiscences and Reflection on Fieldwork

M L Wax

Tenting with Malinowski

J Urry

Notes and Queries on Anthropology and the Development of Field Methods in British Anthropology, 1870-1920

PART TWO: SOCIOLOGICAL BEGINNINGS

L H Lofland

Understanding Urban Life

The Chicago Legacy

J Platt

The Development of the `Participant Observation' Method in Sociology

Origin Myth and History

W F Whyte

On Making the Most of Participant Observation

J M Champoulie

Everett C Hughes and the Development of Fieldwork in Sociology

PART THREE: TRADITIONS IN ETHNOGRAPHY

C O Frake

Notes on Queries in Ethnography

S Delamont and P Atkinson

The Two Traditions of Educational Ethnography

Sociology and Anthropology Compared

S Porter

Critical Realist Ethnography

The Case of Racism and Professionalism in a Medical Setting

PART FOUR: EPISTEMOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY

C Geertz

From the Native's Point of View

On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding

F A Salamone

Epistemological Implications of Fieldwork and Their Consequences

R L Gold

The Ethnographic Method in Sociology

K Narayan

How Native Is a `Native' Anthropologist?

J Katz

Ethnography's Warrants

VOLUME TWO: ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDWORK PRACTICE

PART ONE: THE NATURE OF ETHNOGRAPHIC PRACTICE

J M Henslin

Studying Deviance in Four Settings

Research Experiences with Cabbies, Suicides, Drug Users and Abortionees

R M Emerson

Four Ways to Improve the Craft of Fieldwork

H F Wolcott

Making a Study `More Ethnographic'

PART TWO: ACCESS AND ENTRY

D Serber

The Masking of Social Reality

Ethnographic Fieldwork in the Bureaucracy

R Giulianotti

Participant Observation and Research into Football Hooliganism

Reflections on the Problems of Entr[ac]ee and Everyday Risks

PART THREE: SAMPLING IN ETHNOGRAPHY

M Q Patton

Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods

M R Luborsky and R L Rubinstein

Sampling in Qualitative Research

Rationale, Issues and Methods

PART FOUR: FIELDWORK ROLES

R L Gold

Roles in Sociological Field Observation

D A Snow, R D Benford and L Anderson

Fieldwork Roles and Informational Yield

A Comparison of Alternative Settings and Roles

PART FIVE: ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDWORK RELATIONSHIPS

S M Miller

The Participant Observer and Over-Rapport

R B Everhart

Between Stranger and Friend

Some Consequences of `Long-Term' Fieldwork in Schools

J Dubisch

Lovers in the Field

Sex, Dominance and the Female Anthropologist

J Cassell

The Relationship of Observer to Observed When Studying up

W Shaffir

Doing Ethnography

Reflections on Finding Your Way

PART SIX: INFORMANTS

J Van Maanen

The Informant Game

M Shokeid

Anthropologists and Their Informants

PART SEVEN: FIELDNOTES

R Sanjek

A Vocabulary for Fieldnotes

N Rapport

Writing Fieldnotes

The Conventionalities of Note-Taking in the Field

J E Jackson

D[ac]ej[gr]a Entendu

The Liminal Qualities of Anthropological Fieldnotes

PART EIGHT: INTERVIEWING IN ETHNOGRAPHY

J R Spradley

Step Two

Interviewing an Informant

C L Briggs

Questions for the Ethnographer

A Critical Examination of the Role of the Interview in Fieldwork

S Kleinman, B Stenross and M McMahon

Privileging Fieldwork over Interviewing

Consequences for Identity and Practice

PART NINE: LEAVING THE FIELD

D Snow

The Disengagement Process

A Neglected Problem in Participant Observation Research

C Gallmeier

Leaving, Revisiting and Staying in Touch

Neglected Issues in Field Research

VOLUME THREE: ISSUES IN ETHNOGRAPHY

PART ONE: GENDER IN THE FIELD

L Nader

From Anguish to Exultation

C Warren and P Rasmussen

Sex and Gender in Fieldwork Research

N McKeganey and M Bloor

Spotting the Invisible Man

The Influence of Male Gender on Fieldwork Relations

PART TWO: FEMINIST ETHNOGRAPHY

J Stacey

Can There Be a Feminist Ethnography?

B Skeggs

Situating the Production of Feminist Ethnography

D Bell

Yes Virginia, There Is a Feminist Ethnography

Reflections from Three Australian Fields

PART THREE: VALIDATING ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

M LeCompte and J Goetz

Problems of Reliability and Validity in Ethnographic Research

R M Emerson and M Pollner

On the Use of Members' Responses to Reseachers' Accounts

Y S Lincoln

Emerging Criteria for Quality in Qualitative and Interpretive Research

PART FOUR: COMBINING ETHNOGRAPHY WITH QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

W F Whyte

Research Methods for the Study of Conflict and Cooperation

D Miller et al

The Combination of Quantitative and Qualitative Research in a Study of Shopping, Place and Identity